1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to information handling systems (IHS) and in particular to component validation within information handling systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continue to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Computer system developers spend an enormous amount of time and money developing, testing and validating commodities such as dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) in their platforms in order to ensure compatibility and robustness of operation. However, in order to reduce costs, some customers choose to install commodities which are not validated by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). These non-supported components may cause system instabilities, or lack the robustness required for OEM enhanced capabilities. These non-supported components also negatively impact product operational margin and increase system warranty costs.
As OEMs drive to offer differentiated capabilities, some depend on operating characteristics that are superior to the industry standard allowed range. An example is running a double data rate (DDR) channel frequency at “faster than standard” speed or “above industry standard validated” speed for a given topology and DIMM population, which is possible only with rigorous testing and validation of officially supported OEM validated DIMMs. As OEMs push the limits of frequency, it will be become critical to be able to determine if the installed DIMMs are truly OEM validated.
An easily identified or reverse engineered identification (ID) string is not sufficient to provide adequate security. Safeguards are required to prevent third parties from producing illegitimate DIMMs that appear to be OEM supported. Furthermore, DDR4 DIMM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) serial presence detects (SPDs) no longer offer a permanent write protection mechanism found on prior generations of SPD EEPROMs, that was able to permanently lock the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) standard contents of the SPD (DDR3 bytes 0-127). In addition, reversible software write protecting SPD content blocks requires serial address 0 (SA0) signal to be driven to a high level input voltage (VHV) (e.g., approximately 7-10 volts) which can only be accommodated in a programming fixture. Lack of permanently locking the JEDEC standard bytes, and need to keep the OEM area unlocked, leaves the DIMMs open to manipulation.